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~Chapter Fifteen- Kuro~

It was a time to relax for Warro and Kuro, now that they had returned to Castle Town. Zelda had relieved them of their duties of investigating Ganondorf’s activities, upon noticing that Kuro had fallen ill. Warro carried her on his back as they walked through the streets of the town.

“Take a left,” mumbled Kuro as she rested her head on top of Warro’s. Something was different about Warro, but she could not place her finger on it. She had already noticed the cloak and that Warro’s pendant was now purple (“So, that’s how he got the Boomerang,” she had said, upon Impa’s explanation of how the Pendant worked.), but there was something else…an earring! There, on his left ear hung a small sky blue earring. “When did you get this?” She flicked the lob that the earring hung off from.

“Im-Impa gave it to me.” Warro twitched as his earring swung briefly. That area was still sensitive to the touch; Impa told him, before he left that it would end by the next day. “She gave Link one too. She said something about it being like a rite of passage for Sheikah boy, when they came of age, whatever that is.”

“So, I guess you feel that you’re just as good as Link?” Kuro’s body seemed to grow hotter with each moment. She felt like she had taken the Fire Temple to Castle Town. She felt out of breath, tired and thirsty.

“Yep.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Warro.” She hit his head so lightly that it was more of a pat, if anything. “I’m still more experienced and stronger than you. You have so much you still need to learn.” Kuro took a deep breath and rested once more.

“I’ll try…” Warro said with a slight laugh. It was the second time he heard the word; the first was in the Forest Temple, when he nearly got himself killed by a pair of Stalfos that had risen from the bones on the ground, in one room. Luckily the wound was only a minor cut back then. They reached another intersection.

“Keep going and go through the second door on the left.”

“One…” Warro counted to himself. “Two.” They finally arrived at Kuro’s home. He opened the door, stepped inside and looked around. Nothing had changed since the day he woke up here at the start of this quest. He spotted her bed and laid her on it. He looked out of the window next to it. The sky was beginning to turn orange as the sun set over Hyrule. “Impa said there was a place I could buy something to make you feel better.”

“Yeah,” Kuro said, sitting up and resting her back against the wall behind her bed. “It’s in the Market. I think the potion shop should have something in stock. The apothecary is a smart person. He can diagnose illnesses without observation.”

“What?”

“Just look for the potion shop, tomorrow,” Kuro sighed. “The man inside will know what to give you. How many ruppees do you have?”

“Impa gave me her wallet—whatever that is—full of them.” Warro handed Kuro a large bag with a picture of a purple ruppee on it. “I did not even know that there were purple rupees.” He took a small bag from his belt and emptied it out onto Kuro’s bed, spreading the green, blue, yellow, and red ruppees.

“This… this is almost seven hundred ruppees including yours, Warro.” Kuro looked up at Warro as she mixed the purple ruppees from Impa’s wallet. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how much each one is worth. You can’t buy anything, if you don’t know, Warro!”

“I only collect them,” Warro said. “I didn’t know people used them for buying stuff!”

“Okay, well, then, this ruppee is worth one ruppee for starters,” Kuro sighed, picking up a Green ruppee. “Now, count how many of those you have.” Warro nodded as he examined the ruppees, pulling the green ones away from the rest.

“One… two…” Warro reached for the third ruppee, but stopped. He had never needed to count beyond two before. “T-two—“

“Three.” Kuro reached over and grabbed his hand, pushed it down, made it grab the ruppee and put it with the rest. “Do I have to teach you to count too? God, you’re so dimwitted.”

“Long as it doesn’t kill me, right?”

She held up another green ruppee. “This is four…” she placed another into Warro’s hand. “That is five. Now, count to five.”

“One,” Warro said as he held up the ruppee in his hand. “Two.“ He pointed at the one in Kuro’s. “Three, four, five.”

“Good, now we have to go even higher,” Kuro said as she held up a blue ruppee. “This ruppee is the same as five of those green ruppees.” This lesson on counting lasted the whole night and just before they were going to call it a night, Kuro remarked, “Your hands feel different, Warro. When we held hands back when we were chasing Gohma, they were rather soft. They feel a little rougher, now. I guess it means you’re getting to be competent for once. Perhaps we’ll make a normal person out of you, yet.”


The next day Warro headed out to the Market to look for the Potion Shop. He felt nervous as he walked the streets. It was the same as yesterday: everyone stared at him and the sea of people split before him. They knew who he was; the wanted posters were still up.

“So, you are that dark assailant in the posters described.” Warro turned around as a sword hissed from its sheath, bringing the attention of the crowd of people, in the Market. Standing amongst the crowd was a boy as pale as snow dressed in blue. All the eyes of the Market were on him.

“It’s Vaati!”

“The Labrynnian sure are determined to impress Hyrule with their ambassador, that’s for sure.”

Ambassador? Labrynnian? Those words did not make sense to Warro, but all that did was that this Vaati was going to try and kill him. “Wait a second—“

“Not a second to spare,” Vaati cut off. “It’s time to pay for your crime.” A strong gust of wind knocked Warro off his feet as Vaati seemed to glide towards him. A thrust of Vaati’s blade narrowly missed Warro’s face, stabbing into the ground as he fell to the ground. Warro looked up at Vaati and noticed that he also had red eyes and a marking on his left cheek.

“C’mon,” Warro said. “I just need a second to show you something!”

“It takes you a second to reach for your sword,” Vaati said, placing the tip of his sword against Warro’s forehead. Blood trickled down, splitting at the bridge of his nose. “I won’t take that chance.”

Warro groaned as he shut his eyes. Impa, a little help, here? His eyes opened, now purple. “As you wish.” With Impa’s help, Warro threw the Magic Cloak over himself, vanishing from site and retreating to buy time to draw his sword. Impa’s power made his reflexes even better, making him quicker with every little thing. He threw the cloak off as Impa’s control over him faded, turning his eyes back to their usual color. As soon as he appeared, Vaati swiftly made his way to Warro, gently shoving bystanders out of the way. Then a loud, resonating clang pierced the busy noise of the Market as Warro’s sword met Vaati’s, only a split second after it had been drawn. The force of the impact made his arms tremble. Warro’s hands felt clammy. He felt winded and just standing was a challenge for him. Vaati was strong, stronger than Warro was. “Just listen!” Warro said. “Impa told me to show this note to those who try to take me in.” He released a hand from his sword and reached into his tunic, handing a small note to Vaati. Their swords still pressed against the other as Vaati took the note, opened it up, and read it.

“Wait, does he mean THE Impa?”

“No, that can’t be right, Impa would never let an assassin live, after attempting to kill Princess Zelda.”

“It is from that, Impa, people of Hyule.” Vaati held up the note and turned to a random civilian. “You, give this to a guard and make sure that the word is spread that this boy, Warro, has already paid for his crimes under the punishment of Impa.”

“It’s… it’s an honor, sir,” the man who received Warro’s note said. Vaati lowered his sword and held out a hand.

“My name is Vaati.” Warro took hold of it and shook it.

“Warro.”

“You and I aren’t so different it seems,” Vaati said. “Come, I must do more than apologize!”

“But I—“

“Don’t worry, just come,” Vaati said. “I’ll clean that little cut on your forehead and then take you around town!” Vaati, still holding onto Warro’s hand, took him away from the Market and to a small house in the residential area of Castle Town. He took Warro and sat him down on a chair, taking his hat off. “I don’t want this little old thing getting in the way along with that long hair of yours.” Vaati left the room and then returned with a wet cloth and a towel. He knelt down in front of Warro, leaning in and brushing the hair away from the cut on his forehead. He dabbed it with the wet cloth for a few seconds and then proceeded to wipe the dried blood from his face. Afterwards, he dabbed his face with the towel, but this time Warro, abruptly lurched back into the chair.

“S-Sorry,” Warro said. “It’s that usually when things get that close, you’re kind of dead.”

“S’alright,” Vaati chuckled, standing up. “I tried killing you, so I am not surprised you are nervous.” He held out his hand to Warro and pulled him up off the chair, when it was taken. “Anyways, why don’t we go Bombchu Bowling and then grab some lunch later?”

“But I—“

“Good, let’s go!”

And off they went with Vaati dragging Warro by the wrist. Warro bumped into people as Vaati squeezed through the crowds. Warro looked around, trying to spot a potion shop, but the symbols on these shops he could not understand, just like the note Impa had given him. When they finally arrived, Warro looked up and saw a large picture of a blue contraption that looked like a mouse.
“Is this Bombchu Bowling?” Warro asked as Vaati took him inside.

“Of course! You mean you didn’t see the Bombchu on the sign outside?” Vaati headed over to the counter, where the clerk was fast asleep. Vaati turned to Warro and smirked. He leaned over to the woman’s ear and said, “Helloooo…” The woman’s eyes opened up and she rose up, slamming her hands on the counter.

“I’m sorry, sir! I did not get much sleep tonight! No, sir, there were no customers!” She looked at Vaati and Warro, her eyes quickly becoming heavy and half-lidded. “Oh, customers.” She yawned. “It’s thirty ruppees for adults and fifteen for children.” Vaati placed fourty-five ruppees onto the counter and the woman took them.

“Wait, who’s the adult?” Warro asked, upon noticing the amount.

“Me,” Vaati said. “I may not look it, but I’m twenty-two. You’re sixteen, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, let’s just say you are to speed things up.” Vaati took a bombchu off a rack and handed it to Warro as he got himself one. “Have you ever played before?”

“I never really stayed here long enough,” Warro said, looking at the Bombchu. It felt heavy in his hands, but he had a feeling he knew how it worked. He seemed to have amazing luck with items he never used, including a boomerang and a magic cloak. He looked to Vaati, who began to explain the concept of Bombchu bowling.

“The goal is to hit the Ruppees that appear with the Bombchu. You set it down, like so…” A ruppee had appeared in the middle of the alley as he set the Bombchu down. “You let go and watch.” The gadget came alive as his Vaati’s hands moved away and raced down the aisle, exploding upon contact with the Ruppee. “When we’re out of Bombchus, the game is over. Of course, I have a better idea…” He pulled out his wallet again and emptied it out. “Let’s have the longest game we can get!” Warro’s eyes grew to the size of the woman’s as they looked at the amount of money Vaati had. “You ready?”

“S-Sure,” Warro said as he set down a Bombchu.



Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours as Kuro tossed and turned in her bed. Just then, she heard something that made her rise up with a jolt.

“I can’t believe Vaati is taking that boy in yellow around town.”

She did not need to hear anything besides the name Vaati and that he had taken a boy. She bit her lip and clutched the side of her bed. She reached under her pillow and retrieved a dagger. Her eyes narrowed as she stumbled toward the door. She felt dizzy, but she was confident.

“I have you now, you b*****d.”



A crowd had formed around Vaati and Warro as they bowled. They had been going at it for several hours, now. Warro had been losing the whole time, but as time went on, he slowly began to understand the game. It was his turn now, as the ruppee appeared on the ceiling of the aisle.

“Maybe if I…” He crouched down and turned the Bomchu to the side slightly and let it go, watching it spiral down the aisle and hit the ruppee. “Am I winning yet?”

“Almost,” Vaati chuckled. “You’ve gotten so good so quickly. You must be cheating.” Vaati placed his bombchu down and the crowd groaned as it just narrowly missed the ruppee. “You’re turn. Get this one and we’re tied.”

“Get it, kid!” the crowd yelled. “He’s going easy on you!”

Warro, feeling empowered by the crowd, smirked as he saw the ruppee appear in the easiest spot in the alley. He set the bombchu down and dramatically pointed forward yelling, “Go!” The bombchu exploded against the ruppee and tied up the score. “Alright, Vaati, now, am I winning?”

“No, we have the same score, Warro,” Vaati laughed. “You have to have the most points.” The door opened up as another person entered the alley.

“Don’t go!” Warro turned around to see Kuro. Her face was flushed red from either anger or her condition; he could not tell. In her hand she held a simple dagger. “You thought you could take him away from me again?”

“You-you’re…” Vaati muttered.

“Kuro, what are you…” Warro looked away. He had completely forgotten about the medicine. What did she mean by “taking him away again?” She did not sound okay either. Her voice sounded exhausted, but it was filled with so much anger that it even made Vaati seem intimidated.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Vaati said crossing his arms. “I don’t even know you.”

“You b*****d!” the crowd gasped at what happened in the next few seconds. Kuro dashed toward Vaati, crying out, tears running from her eyes, with the dagger’s edge aimed at him.

“Vaati!” Warro pushed Vaati out of the way and cried out as the dagger stabbed into him. He fell over as blood stained his tunic, being caught by Kuro.

“Why…” Kuro muttered as she rested her head against his. “Why did you… Why did you leave? Come with me… stay with me. I need you—I love you!” The crowd gasped at this all and then a man from the crowd stepped forward.

“Kuro, come with me,” he muttered, pulling her by the arm. She cried, grabbing onto Warro tightly. Warro stared at Kuro.

That word, Warro clutched his side, why does that word… His thoughts were interrupted by the man removing the dagger from his body.

“You too,” he said. “I’ll patch you up back at my place.” He looked to Vaati as he helped Warro up. Kuro sobbed into Warro’s tunic as the man brought her close to him. “I apologize her actions. I can she is not feeling well and this illness has been making her hallucinate.”

“I see,” Vaati said. “Well, I must be off in the morning, anyways. I’m heading to Gerudo Valley to discuss a trade agreement there as well.”

“Very well, then, I will be off,” the man nodded as he guided Warro and Kuro out of the Bombchu Bowling Alley. He headed across the empty market to a building one of the buildings on the other side. Warro looked up at the night sky, still trying to figure out what is making his mind itch. “I’m sorry for what she did to you. She tends to get this way often, when she is sick.” The man opened up the door and sat Warro down on a chair. “Remove the tunic. I’ll make sure it’s washed in the morning. I’ll start with you. Just try not to bleed on the chair.”

“R-right,” Warro stuttered tiredly, gasping at how blood was already there. He removed his weapons and then his tunic. He then removed the black undershirt, gasping as it slowly peeled away from the sticky blood on his skin. He then sat there in his black trousers and leather boots, waiting for the man to return.

“I’m sorry,” Kuro muttered. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Now, I killed you…”

“Kuro, I’m—“

“Don’t try talking to her,” the man said as he returned. “She thinks you are another person, right now.”

“What?” Warro asked. The man opened up a bottle and poured some liquid onto a cloth.

“This is going to sting, but it will clean the wound,” the man said as he placed the cloth against Warro’s side. Warro groaned as a sting froze his body, until the cloth was removed and even then, the sting remained.

“Wh-what is that potion?”

“This isn’t a potion,” the man said. “It’s vinegar.”

“Vine-wha?”

“Vin-e-gar,” the man chuckled as he began to wrap up the wound. “I want you to go wash your hands. “I’ll explain more, when you return.”

“Vinegar, vinegar…” Warro muttered as he headed to the back, where he saw a bucket of water. The man headed over to Kuro and opened up a small white jug.

“Kuro, here,” he whispered, helping her drink it all without moving it away from her lips. As it moved away, Kuro’s eyes drooped and she fell asleep. The man carried her to a bed and rested her down as Warro returned. “Ah, sit down, please. Try to make yourself comfortable. I’m surprised that this happened again, but it seems to have gotten worse.”

“What do you mean?” Warro asked.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the man said. “My name is Cyrano. I am the apothecary of Castle Town, and Kuro’s guardian, in a way.”

Warro did not get a word of what Cyrano had just said, but he nodded anyways and sat down, grimacing from the pain in his side. “Kuro told me about you, Warro. She said that she was ordered to protect you. It seems that you have to protect her, now too.”

“Why?”

“Kuro suffers from PTSD.”

“What?”

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

“What?”

“She’s just had a rough life,” Cyrano sighed. “You’re just as stupid as she said, too.”

“It hasn’t killed me yet,” Warro said.

“It can, if you aren’t careful.” Cyrano sighed as he took his glasses off the bridge of his nose and wiped the lens with a cloth he kept in his breast pocket. “You see, Kuro is not from Hyrule. She washed ashore here six years ago. She spent a year at Lon Lon Ranch, before living with me. It’s hard to be a human here, but she tries her hardest to get along. Now, those people will hate her for rising against a Sheikah, a protector of the royal family.”

“Sheikah? Like Impa?”

“You mean you aren’t?”

“I don’t know,” Warro muttered. “I’ve been in the Lost Woods for a long time. Now, that I know how to count, I can say it was six years.”

“Interesting…” Cyrano rubbed his chin. “Well, here’s her story, from what she told me. When she was ten, her parents were brutally murdered by a wind mage and she was kidnapped along with several other children her age. They were shoved into a ship, and while they were there, they were experimented on. It’s not there anymore, but on her right cheek is a very thin outline of one who had been touched by darkness. I advised against it, but I managed to pull some strings to keep that darkness from taking over, because you see: even though it’s very little, battle feeds that darkness. Two years ago, that darkness made her hallucinate. It made her see the boy who sacrificed his life to save her.”

“And the Princess sent her, knowing this?” Warro asked, trying to make sense of it all.

“You mean you did not notice?”

“Notice what?”

“Kuro has been taking pills first thing every morning,” Cyrano explained. “They suppress the darkness, but I believe she either forgot to take one, or she ran out before she got here. Her sickness is from being in the heat for too long.”

“Well, Impa ordered her to go to Goron City with Link.” Warro then told the story about Impa’s plan to strengthen the relationships between them all.

“And they went in without Goron Tunics? Those idiots!” Cyrano exclaimed. “She will be better tomorrow, but PLEASE try to keep an eye on how many pills she has left. When she runs out, keep her out of battles, okay?” Warro stared “Okay?” Cyrano placed his hands on Warro’s shoulders.

“Okay.”